Dear Miss Granger
by queenOhearts
Summary: A story in which Draco Malfoy writes Hermione Granger a letter with a unique proposal. (Rated T for later chapters)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any of it characters.

AN: I intend this to be a oneshot but if it is requested of me enough I will make this a multi-chapter story. But as of right now it is complete. Enjoy!

Dear Miss Granger,

If you may, please excuse me from refraining from addressing you by your first name. I am not yet comfortable with calling you Hermione nor do I think I deserve the right to do so. But I refuse to refer to you with any title that expresses anything less than respect. You, of all the women in the world, deserve nothing less than that.

I know for a fact that this seems quite odd to you. Firstly, I, Draco Malfoy, have chosen to send you a letter that contains no insults or threats or anything else of the like. Secondly, I am complimenting you in earnest. All in all, if I were you I would be afraid for my sanity.

However, with the war over and the pair of us returned to the school to finish our education I have found that with fewer familiar faces around than there were before the war, my eyes have drifted to you more often than they should. I have very few friends anymore, with most of them having withdrawn from school or rejecting me for leaving the battle like a coward. And honestly, I was a coward. I ran away from a battle that I had helped to start and didn't have the balls to stick through to the end. If I was a decent human being I would have died for my beliefs, wrong as they were. At least that way I would have stood for something instead of cowering with my tail between my legs.

You on the other hand fought more bravely than I could have dreamed of myself in my entire lifetime. A muggle born witch stood where a pureblood wizard dared not and came out victorious. That is extraordinarily admirable.

These past few months since our return to Hogwarts I have been noticing you more and more. The war hero, Hermione Granger, caught my eye initially. She stood proud and served as a beacon of hope alongside Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, our guides into a new, peaceful world. You put on a smile to shine against the sadness and you carried on with your schooling like the war had never happened. I could see students taking after your example and slowly returning to normality.

But after she caught my eye, my attentions focused on someone else. The eighteen-year-old girl, Hermione Granger, who was exhausted by the weight of all of the people looking to her for guidance. You hide it quite well, but I spend too much time looking at you to have not noticed. You are tired, Miss Granger, and I don't mean tired with the fight or tired of being who you are, but just plain tired. There was no time for you to rest or heal because you were helping others rest and heal.

Now don't get me wrong. I can still see fight in you. There is still strength in your spirit and there is steel in your eyes but your soul is in need of a rest. You have spent far too long protecting others and being a support that you have failed to find support for yourself. Of course you have your two boys, but even they cannot lean against you in the way you need them to. They cannot hold you as you cry just to relieve the tension in your bones. They cannot pick up the glass that you shatter when the twitch in your fingers has become too much to bear. They cannot rub the soles of your feet after you have stood so strong for so long. And they cannot whisper to you soft words to slow the beating of your speeding heart.

So with this I would like to strike you with a proposal. Allow me to do these things for you.

I have never been a kind person and I don't know how to take care of others. But, unlike you, I am tired with the way I am. I am tired of being a coward, of being the person that everyone hates, of being ashamed of myself, and of not being useful. I have done and said a great deal of hurtful things to you and for that I am truly sorry. It has been slow but I am trying to be a better person, please believe me. If you will allow my, please let me learn how to be your support beam. Teach me how to take care of you when you need to rest and let me stand behind to catch you when you may fall. I don't need everyone to like me, I just need you. If others come to forgive me then I will owe it all to you and I will not leave your side for it. It will be a long a hard road, but I can assure you that I will be with you every step of the way.

If you believe this is some way I have found to repent for my wrongdoings then you are right. But this is also my way of becoming a better man. I don't wish to be a coward anymore. For the woman who protects everyone in need I want to be the one to protect you. At the end of the day, after you have saved the world, please allow me to save you. I don't wish to be a pureblood, nor a wizard, nor a coward. I want to show to you that I can become a man. So if you will permit it, let me take care of you.

Sincerely,

Draco Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or any of its characters.

….

My fingers thoughtlessly played with the letter in my pocket. I had reread it so many times and handled it so often that the fibers in the parchment were starting to soften and the ink was starting to fade in the more worn areas of the paper. But I was still so surprised by the content of the letter that I couldn't help but read it over and over again as if I thought the letters would swim around the page and create a whole new message.

My initial surprise at finding Draco Malfoy's eagle owl at my window was dwarfed dramatically upon reading the letter for the first time. Having woken up in the middle of the night to receive it from the bird, I thought that maybe I was dreaming so I tucked the letter under my pillow and went back to sleep. But when the letter was still there in the morning I was hit with the reality of the situation. Unsure of what to do, I locked myself in the head girl's dorm at the top of Gryfindor tower and simply sat in bed and stared at the letter. Thinking back on it, I wasn't quite sure what I had expected to happen. I believe I was willing the parchment to suddenly change into a paper bird that would then fly around my room before finding an open window to escape through and never be seen again. But that sort of wishful thinking proved disappointing when I scanned the parchment for any hidden curses, hexes, or small traces of magic and found nothing but the neat handwriting of Draco Malfoy.

I hadn't realized that I had remained in the same manner until the boys had come up to my room to call me for breakfast. Instinctively, I hid the note in my robes, not willing to risk it chancing upon another person's eyes, especially Harry and Ron's. After, I had joined them for breakfast but I was excruciatingly aware of the feeling that I was being watched. As I already had an idea of who could possibly be watching me, I glanced at the Slytherin table. With so few of the students from the Slytherin house having returned it was easy to spot him, especially since he was staring right at me. Truthfully, it was a little unnerving because before, there had been a few times when I would catch him looking at me, but he would always avert his gaze immediately after. However, this time he held my gaze with eyes that demanded an answer. He knew that I had received the letter and he wasn't ashamed of it. In fact, he looked at me with more purpose than I had seen in him since our return to school. The only problem was I didn't know how I felt about his proposal.

Draco Malfoy's ability to be able to see what my closest friends had failed to notice was remarkable. I was indeed tired, and he understood that fully. Not even my own boyfriend could sense that, and we had been best friends since our first year at Hogwarts. Ron and Harry were content, they were finally able to relax, but I still felt like I had to continue moving on strong, if not for their sake, then for the sake of the people who looked up to us. One of the three of us still had to be an idol to the others who were still coping with the devastation from the war and with them having done so much already for all of these years, I thought it was my turn. Besides, I wanted them to focus on their studies for our upcoming NEWTS and I was confident in knowing that I would likely pass with high scores as it was.

But there were times that I wanted to cry, and break things, and to be comforted. There really was no time for me to rest and be myself and feel my own feelings because I had to keep up an image to be followed by those needing my help. Maybe, all I wanted to do was sit down with a book and have someone sit with me, not looking to me but looking at me. And if not looking at me, then looking after me.

Nonetheless, I wasn't so sure that I wanted that person to be Draco Malfoy. I hardly knew him and what I did know of him were not good things. After years of torment I didn't know if I could allow myself to trust him with me. But as I sit here at my desk, fiddling with his letter with one hand and holding a quill with the other, I think that maybe I could give him a chance. After all, I have been trying to help everyone move on from the war and into a time of peace. Why couldn't I do the same for him? Why shouldn't I allow him to do the same for me?

I brought my quill down to the parchment on my desk and began to write.

_Dear Mister Malfoy…_..

...

AN: Thank you all who reviewed/liked/are following this story. Honestly, I would have added more to it with even just one request. I wanted to keep this chapter short and simple so I wouldn't give away and of what she will write back to him. Next chapter will be her response letter.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter _or any of its characters.

…..

Dear Mister Malfoy,

To begin, I would first like to thank you for your letter. The thought of you even being capable of writing me a civil letter blew my mind away. Actually, I'm quite jealous because while I have no idea of how I should proceed with this note, you were able to be straightforward and honest in your own. To me, that is quite admirable since I have never been able to communicate well with others. You know, I spent more time with books than I did with people. But I am assuming that the easiest way to get this done would be to start with the truth and finish with it. I will allow you the same courtesies you allowed me in your letter and I will be completely straightforward and honest with you.

Draco Malfoy, I accept your proposal.

Honestly, it took me all week to convince myself to accept your offer. At first I wanted to turn you down immediately, but that wouldn't have been fair to you. I hadn't considered your words at all but yet I acted like a saint to everyone else. The least I could have done was think of the pros and cons of accepting you. Obviously, in the end the reasons for allowing you to be close with me outweighed my reasons for rejecting you.

To start, you had been horrid to me throughout our seven years of knowing each other. Your pureblood superiority forbade you from being any type of companion for me. You were on the dark side during the war. My friends will not allow you to be seen with me. My boyfriend would kill you if he even knew you sent me a letter. The wizarding community would shun us as a pair. I might lose my high standing within the public eye. And truthfully, you deserve no kindness from me.

But you also haven't caused me any torment since I was last able to truly speak with you in our sixth year. You are clearly ignoring your pureblood superiority principles in favor of becoming an existence of importance to me. While you were on the dark side you did little to nothing to contribute to their effort; I do know about the Dumbledore debacle and I believe that it proved that your heart wasn't in the war and you are, in fact, not evil. My friends may not want to see you with me, but they don't have to if we're careful. My boyfriend is pretty dense so he might not even notice that I will be spending time away from him to see you. The wizarding community may come to accept you if they see you reformed. And you do deserve kindness from me because it is unfair of me to offer help to anyone who needs it and to turn my back on you.

Also, I am lonely. It is one thing to be surrounded by people and another thing to be heard by them. Harry and Ron will always be there for me, but without the threat of Voldemort Harry is finally able to relax and enjoy life. It's understandable that he is finding more comfort for himself than he is trying to give me. Ron and I are also finally dating, but he has never been held with great esteem in the wizarding community. He is too busy with trying to deal with his own losses from the war and trying to adjust to the life of a war hero to really understand my feelings at the moment. All that is important to him is that I am with him now and here to support him when he needs me.

But I do admit that I need support too. In your words, I am indeed very tired. I want to be able to sit in a room with a person and just let my shoulders relax and to loosen my hair without my every movement being watched and analyzed. I want to ask someone for help when I need it instead of being sought for help. And most importantly, I want a shoulder to cry on that will comfort me instead of judge me.

I didn't know if I wanted that shoulder to be you, but I have been watching you. Before I received your letter I had noticed that you had withdrawn into yourself. You didn't speak to anyone, including people in your own house. Oftentimes I would catch you furiously studying in the library and diligently taking notes in class. I've even seen you sitting by yourself next to the great lake, staring into the distance with a frown on your face. At first I thought nothing of it, but I did realize that you seemed to be trying to change yourself. You maintained a look of determination on your face and only now do I understand what it was for. You want to be a better person, if not for yourself, then surprisingly for me. This week you have even been bolder with the fact that you have been watching me. Your intense stares convinced me that you were intent on being there for me and you are not ashamed of it. And I am not ashamed of choosing you to be my support.

I will tell you right now that this will not be easy for us. No one will appreciate seeing us together and we will not be met with any kindness. I doubt you have forgotten, but I am a war hero and you a war criminal still in the minds of many. The pain and hurt caused by the final battle is still fresh and the last thing the people need to see is us being close. So we will have to meet in secret. No one must know that we have become companions, especially Harry and Ron. Secrecy is the price that we will have to pay for our company, but it is the only option for us at the moment. I am not a coward, and I know that you do not want to be one either, but we absolutely cannot disturb the peace that our community is finally coming upon.

Meet me in the room of requirement this evening 8:00 pm. Please don't be late because I really hate to be out so close to curfew. When you get there, think "I need a place to be myself."

Sincerely,

Hermione Granger


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter _or any of its characters.

…..

Draco's POV:

If I were to have told myself two years ago that I was going to have a secret meeting with Hermione Granger that didn't involve murder I would have probably avada'd myself on the spot. But that was the old me and the new me was in between excitement and nervousness.

When I had received her letter this morning I was beside myself with happiness and I haven't known happiness for a long time. If I wasn't in the Slytherin dorms I would have shot a fist of victory into the air, but as it was I couldn't even crack a smile. Draco Malfoy does not smile; he smirks, and grins maliciously but does not smile. But Blaise, my only "friend" and the only person to have noticed my attentions towards Hermione knew that something good had happened.

"Whatever happens man, don't let anyone find out" he said as we walked to the great hall for breakfast.

I shot him a look, "What are you talking about, Zabini?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "There are people who will tear you piece from piece if they had the chance. Don't give them the opportunity if you can avoid it."

"And what if I did?"

Blaise stopped and looked at me critically. "It will ruin her too" he said in the tone he reserved for serious conversations. Blaise had a way of talking sense into me without saying more than a few sentences. It was in his nature to be exceptionally quiet, and as such his observation skills were superb. I hadn't known that he knew I had been watching Hermione until he had told me that if I stared at her any longer, her two best friends would notice as well. At first I was tempted to find some way to convince him to remain quite about my newfound interest, but he had never been one to gossip and spread rumors. Even during the war he stayed out of the fray, preferring to remain on the outside where he could remain undisturbed. He liked the peace and I knew he would try to keep it that way.

We sat down to breakfast and my eyes immediately wandered to the Gryffindor table. To my surprise, Hermione was already watching me. But as quickly as my eyes had caught hers, she had adverted her gaze to the Weasley female sitting next to her. I suppose I felt slightly offended from being to blatantly ignored, but she was being more cautious of our situation than I was. He delicacy of our arrangement could break with a simple smile or even if I were caught watching her too intently. So in that moment, I had decided that in order for us to remain a secret, I would have to act like the Draco Malfoy that I was trying to avoid. The least I could do was avoid her for the rest of the day so that I could explain to her that night how I planned to hide our companionship.

….

The day could not go by fast enough. Luckily, I didn't share any classes with the Gryffindors, but it was a pain trying to avoid Hermione since her routes in between classes were along the same as mine. After my third near run-in with her I just gave up and went to the Slytherin dorms to wait out the day. That was probably worse than going to class because then I had to wait out my time until 8:00 when I would head down to the room of requirement. I tried to read but I could only entertain myself with that for so long. I tried to take a nap because Merlin knew how long I would be out that night. And when the time finally drew close enough I busied myself with trying to look presentable. I was going to dress up but in the end I had given up, deciding that the best way for her to get comfortable with me was for me to show her that I was comfortable with her. As a result, I ended up throwing on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt before putting on my robes and leaving the dorms.

I would have run to the room of requirement if not for the many people that were still loitering about the castle. I was already nervous enough as it were that I didn't want any unwanted attention. While I drew ever closer to my destination, anxiety began to settle in as my palms grew clammy and my breathing became more shallow. As I came upon the wall that would reveal the door to the room of requirement, my mind all but shouted '_I need a place to be myself_.' The door appeared instantaneously and without notice I was able to slip in.

The room was quite small for the size it normally became, but it was comfy nonetheless. There was a small study table with chairs on opposite ends, two plush chairs and a loveseat surrounding a fireplace, and a door which, upon further inspection, led to a small lavatory. It was nothing extravagant, but everything we could need to relax. I thought that Hermione might find it cozy.

Thinking of her, I glanced at my watch. It read 8:25, meaning I had five more minutes to wait for her, so I made myself comfortable on one of the plush chairs. But as I sat and waited five minutes turned into ten, and ten minutes turned into fifteen. I began to wonder if she had cold feet or if this was all some sort of game to her when she had burst through the front door, out of breathe and clutching her overly large schoolbag to her chest.

"I'm so sorry for being late," she started as she walked in and set her things on the small table. "I got caught up in the library trying to find a book that the boys needed in order to finish their essays for potions. When I finally found it, it was already really late so I ran back to the Gryffindor common rooms to give them the book but they tried to keep me back to help with their homework. When they realized that I was trying to leave them, they began to press me to tell them where I was off to in such a rush and I-"

"Do you breathe?" I interrupted her. She had been talking so quickly and without pause that I was afraid that she would pass out.

Instead, she just blushed lightly and excused herself for ranting. No longer fussing with her schoolbag, she stood before me with her hands clasped behind her back, sheepishly staring at anything but me.

"I don't bite, Miss Granger. Not unless you want me to," I smirked. Surprisingly, she gave me a smile.

"Sod off, Malfoy" she retorted, shoulders relaxing a bit.

I shrugged, "If you wish, Miss Granger. So what did you want to do tonight?"

"Granger," she said.

I chuckled, "I don't think Weasley would like that very much. Anything else you had in mind."

To my amusement, for a second she looked like she wanted to throw something at me, but she collected herself quickly. "I meant for you to call me Granger. It's a lot less awkward than Miss Granger."

I smiled for the first time. The look of shock on her face was very pleasing. "Well then, Granger" I drawled, "What do you wish to do tonight."

She looked around, and then down at her bag. "I thought that maybe I could just do some homework and you could keep my company."

"If that would please you, then I will gladly do that," I replied. Granger nodded her head and began to pull out her school work from her bag. With nothing else to do, I sat quietly and watched her as she organized her work and began to write. My vision of her studying was different than how she actually carried about doing it. I expected her to write frantically, going through page after page as she flipped pages in books and wrote notes on scrap paper. However, she took her time with her work, her head relaxed into her other palm as her writing hand glided smoothly across the parchment, her eyes lifting every now and then to cross reference something in a book that she had open.

"Granger," I called to her quietly after some time had passed.

"Hmm?"

A sigh escaped my mouth, "If we are going to get away with this, I thought that it may be best for me to remain mean to you outside of our little meetings."

Without looking up she answered me. "I was thinking the same thing. But I thought that you would have a hard time being nice to me even in private. Honestly, your letter didn't sound very much like you and I was worried it was a trick."

I smiled and played with a frayed edge on the chair I was seated in. "Well yes," I said, "but I had started and restarted that letter more times than I can care to remember. In the end, the best approach that I assumed that I could make was a civil one."

Hermione tore her gaze from her paper and looked at me. "Well it worked. This is the first time I've been able to study in peace. Thank you."

"No problem"

…

The night had continued with her studying and me silently watching her from my chair. Without realizing it, I had fallen asleep and by the time I had come around, Granger's head was also laying on the table deeply sleeping as well. Groaning, I stood up and slowly walked to her to wake her. "Granger, it's one in the morning. You should head to your dorm."

She mumbled something along the lines of "I don't want to" and I was left trying to convince her that sleeping the way she was at the table would leave her feeling sore in the morning. To this she had cracked open an eye before getting up, only to drag herself to the loveseat and falling right back into sleep. I could faintly hear her mumble something about it being Saturday and that she didn't need to go before she was still again. Sighing, I dragged myself back to my chair and went back to sleep. We'd figure out what to do in the morning.

AN: Sorry for the lameness of this chapter. I had a rough night at work and I was forcing myself to stay awake to write this. I promise that the next chapter will be better.


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